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MoU signed between STPI and SAIL Rourkela Steel Plant, Rourkela for Industry 4.0 COE (Em Tek) and promotion of Innovation & Startup activities at STPI-Bhubaneswar

MoU signed between STPI and SAIL Rourkela Steel Plant, Rourkela for Industry 4.0 COE (Em Tek) and promotion of Innovation & Startup activities at STPI-Bhubaneswar.

The primary objective of the MOU is to forge strong and meaningful alliance between STPI & SAIL-RSP to support the upcoming STPI Centre of Entrepreneurship on Emerging Technologies in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela known as EmTek which is being established with funding support from Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India (MeitY) and Electronics & IT Department, Government of Odisha. 

The MoU envisages  a strong co-operation in mentoring, access to infrastructure and facilities, networking and funding. Both STPI & SAIL RSP will  encourage smooth exchange of information and knowledge  and work out a plan of action to leverage mutual strengths, viz. rich experience of STPI in technology implementation and SAIL-RSP with strong industry perspective strengthened by excellence in industrial production, research & manufacturing, R&D and so on. The state of the art facilities to come up in Bhubaneswar (with a satellite centre at BPUT Rourkela) as one of the leading Centers of Entrepreneurship (CoEs) of STPI would be the focal point of all initiatives by both the organizations under this MoU.      

It is pertinent to mention Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India has been set up with distinct focus for promotion of software and IT exports from the Country. Since its inspection, STPI has come a long way and become highly successful in its mission as catalyst in positioning India as the most preferred destination for outsourced IT and IT enabled services. At present STPI has 61 centers pan India including at Bhubaneswar & Rourkela.

In its new journey, STPI is aspiring to become the largest technology startup ecosystem in the country and has been endeavoring to transform the country into a software product nation. For  this, STPI has evolved a collaborative model wherein Government, Industry, Academia and other stakeholders are playing a vital role for providing end-to-end support to startups. Aligned with this vision, STPI has established Centers of Entrepreneurship (CoEs) in niche technologies to promote Startups and create a holistic eco-system for encouraging R&D, Innovation, Product development, Entrepreneurship in the State.  As of now STPI is setting up 20 Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoEs) in specific  domain spread across the country including Electropreneur Park (ESDM Incubation CoE) & Virtual Augmented Reality (VAR CoE) and third one on Industry 4.0 COE (Em Tek) is coming up at Bhubaneswar.

At the other hand, SAIL Rourkela Steel Plant, is one of the largest integrated steel plant in India and committed to national building under Make in India initiative of the Government of India by high- quality steel products like such as Plate Mill Plates, HR Plates, HR Coils, ERW pipes, SW pipes, CR sheets & coils, Galvanized Sheets, Silicon steel sheets, Export Slabs, etc. which is going for massive automation.

It is felt that, the collaboration between STPI and SAIL-RSP will set up a strong platform and boost Innovation & Promote StarupsInnovation and create and Innovation led Entrepreneurship in the State.

This MOU is envisaged to provide catalytic improvements in the Digitalization drive and implementation of Industry 4.0 Standards at RSP.

The MoU was signed by Shri Manas Panda, Jurisdictional Director, STPI-Bhubaneswar (Odisha, Bihar & Jharkhand)& Shri S.R. Suryawanshi, Executive Director (Works), Rourkela Steel Plant, SAIL in presence of senior Officers from STPI & SAIL RSP.

The industry is flourishing like never before in Karnataka with numbers touching Rs 2 lakh crore for the first time in history.  Karnataka continues its domination of being the number one state in the country when it comes to software exports. Though many states are picking up the pace by establishing software parks as well as providing incentives to the IT companies, Karnataka is far ahead of them.

In fact, for the first time in history, software exports from the state (from IT companies registered with the Software Technology Parks of India has touched Rs 2-lakh-crore mark. According to Union Minister of State of Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel’s statement in Rajya Sabha  recently, Karnataka’s software exports for this financial year (2020-21) is Rs 2,04,648.96 crore. If we look at the last five years’ trend, software exports have seen a steady growth year after year. In 2016-17, the exports were Rs 1, 41,846 crore; 2017-18-Rs 1, 52,280.16 crore; 2018-19-Rs 1, 69,699.08 crore and Rs 1, 94,473.28 crore in 2019-20. As three months are remaining in the current financial year, the software exports are likely to record a new high.

An IT expert said, “Looking at the employment or revenue across the sectors, many were badly hit due to the outbreak of covid. However, if we look at the statistics, it is clear that the covid pandemic had little effect on the software exports scenarios.

As many IT companies were quick to adapt to WFH and later the hybrid model, their work was least affected.

“As many IT companies were quick to adapt to the work from home system and later the hybrid model, their work was least affected and has shown a positive trend. They continue to drive the exports in the state.”
Another IT expert said, “Bengaluru is aptly called the Silicon Valley of the East. The city has a lion’s share in the software exports though a small section of companies are operating in other cities. The figures reinforce Bengaluru’s stand as the IT capital of India.”

Interestingly, Karnataka is not just the number one state in terms of software exports, but also much ahead in the competition compared to other states. For example, Maharashtra  is at a distant second when it comes to software exports as the gap between the two states is more than Rs one lakh crore. Maharashtra’s software exports are Rs 99,732.48 crore.
Much is talked about the Bengaluru versus Hyderabad competition in software exports and many times, the neighbouring state claims that it has been able to woo many big ticket companies.
However, with Bengaluru being the prime driver in Karnataka and Hyderabad in Telangana, the Telangana state is third with Rs 71,574.19 crore exports. 
Software Technology Parks of India was set up in 1991 as an autonomous society under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. STPI’s main objective has been the promotion of software exports from the country.
STPI acts as ‘single-window in providing services to the software exporters. The services rendered by STPI for the software exporting community have been statutory services, data communications services, incubation facilities, training and value-added services.

Currently, more than 5,000 units are registered with STPI across India. A total of 60 STPI centres/sub-centres are operational across the country, out of which, 51 centres are in Tier II and Tier III cities.
Housed in the Electronic City, a major IT cluster in Bengaluru with presence of 200-plus IT/ITeS/ electronics system design & manufacturing (ESDM) companies.
The total exports from the STP units under STPI-Bengaluru has gone from Rs 39 crore in 1993 to Rs 2.04 lakh crore in FY 2020-21.

The Bengaluru story

In 1990, Bengaluru was the first Software Technology Park (STP) of India that was set up along with STPs in Pune and Bhubaneswar, which later merged in June 1991 into a single autonomous society called Software Technology Parks of India.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Saturday inaugurated the MedTech Centre of Entrepreneurship established at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) in Lucknow and said the center will boost cross-disciplinary application development like medical plus technology in the state.

MedTech is a Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE) in Medial Electronics and Health Informatics is an initiative of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), an autonomous society under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY). This CoE at Lucknow is being set up by STPI & MeitY in collaboration with Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow, Department of IT & Electronics (Govt. of UP), Association of Medical Device Industry (AiMED) and Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ).

Padamshree Dr Saurabh Srivastava, former chairman of NASSCOM, has given his consent to be the chief mentor of MedTech CoE.

The CoE shall provide state-of-the-art facilities to startups in the field of Medi electronics and health informatics while accelerating the startup culture in the state and supporting local economy and generating employment opportunities and realising the vision of the government on Naye Absar, Naye Bharat Ka Naya Uttar Pradesh, Digital India Ka Digital Utar Pradesh, and Soch Imandar Kam Damdar.

While inaugurating the centre, Chandrashekhar said, “MedTech CoE can boost cross-disciplinary application development like medical plus technology, that’s the future. The big innovations are expected from this space. The amount of works done on technology front during the last 4-5 years has helped India bring resilience during the Covid-19 period. Today, India is the largest startup ecosystem in the world. Medical electronics has a special importance in this scenario. The combination of engineering and medical science can catalyse innovations in healthcare sector.”

He further said, “The startups & CoEs can create maximum opportunities for our youth. From January 2021, we are growing two unicorns per month. After recovering from Covid, we are the fastest growing economy. We have received the highest amount of FDI compared to the other countries in the world. When PM Narendra Modi launched Digital India in 2014, he set three objectives i.e. technology enablement, digital economy, entrepreneurship and employment, and make India a global leader in emerging technology space. We have transformed citizens’ lives through technology usage and today if we are sending Rs 100 now, citizens are receiving the same amount in their account. These are the benefits of technology.”

Speaking on the occasion, Arvind Kumar, Director General, STPI underlined, “MediTech CoE can bring a paradigm shift in research and innovation in medical electronics and health informatics sectors by providing a robust ecosystem focusing on startups and enabling them to build path-breaking products in MedTech domain while creating IPRs, boosting exports, reducing imports, and making India a global hub for manufacturing of medical electronics equipment.”

Fifteen MedTech startups have been selected for incubation at the MedTech Centre. These startups are from different parts of Uttar Pradesh and some are from other states thereby positioning Uttar Pradesh as a leading state in field of emerging technologies in healthcare sector. The Centre of Entrepreneurship shall provide plug and play facilities, co-working/incubation space, High Speed Internet (500MBPS), Medi electronics and Health informatics and IoT Labs, Support on Intellectual Property Rights, Assistance for Marketing and Network Outreach amongst other facilities.

The newly built facility, in partnership with Software technology Park of India, Ministry of Electronics and IT and the Uttar Pradesh government is strategically housed at the PGI Medical facility, providing suitable environment for the Medi electronics Startups to flourish. The Medi electronics sector is currently estimated to be at $10 billion and is expected to grow to $50 billion by 2025. There is tremendous import dependency of around 75-80 per cent. This Centre of Entrepreneurship is expected to help develop the domestic startup ecosystem in Medi electronics and help boost the AatmaNirbhar Bharat mission set by the Narendra Modi Government.

Uttar Pradesh has set new benchmarks under the Digital India initiatives. With around 21 crore Aadhar enrolment, this state is leading India’s Digital Identity programme which is touted as the world’s largest. Over 15 crore people of the state have benefitted under various central/state government programmes leveraging Aadhar. It has facilitated direct benefit transfer of benefits in accounts of beneficiaries - stemming out corruption, malpractices and ensuring ease of living for the citizens.

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The CoE will be housed at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow with a built-up space of 15,000 sq. ft.

With an estimated budget of Rs. 22 crores, the CoE will nurture 50 startups over a period of five years

New Delhi: Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hon’ble Minister of State Electronics & IT and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India will inaugurate MedTech Centre of Entrepreneurship established at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow. Shri Arvind Kumar, Director General, STPI; Shri Arvind Kumar Additional Chief Secretary IT & Electronics, Govt. of Uattar Pradesh; Dr.  R.K.Dhiman, Director- SGPGI-Lucknow; Dr. Rajneesh Agrawal, Director STPI-Noida and Shri Subodh Sachan, Director, STPI-HQ will also be present at the occasion.

MedTech – A Center of Entrepreneurship (CoE) in Medial Electronics & Health Informatics is an initiative of The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), an autonomous society under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY).  This CoE at Lucknow is being set up by STPI & MeitY in collaboration with Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow; Department of IT & Electronics (Govt. of UP); Association of Medical Device Industry (AiMED); and Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ). Padamshree Dr. Saurabh Srivastava, Former Chairman of NASSCOM, Founder, Indian Angel Network has given his consent to be the Chief Mentor of MedTech CoE.

The CoE will be housed at the SGPGI campus, with a built-up space of 15,000 sq. ft. With an estimated budget of Rs. 22 crores, the CoE will nurture 50 startups over a period of five years, stimulating R&D in medical electronics and health informatics while facilitating an entrepreneurial ecosystem to promote young innovators to create affordable, high-quality indigenous medical products, drive employment, and contribute to the economy. MedTech CoE is a significant stride to enable Indian healthcare sector for empowering patients and helping them in accessing smart and affordable HealthTech solutions. The core objective of this CoE is to catalyze the transformation of the Life sciences & Healthcare industry for accelerated and sustained growth. Through this CoE startups shall be able to capture new business opportunities & markets while building solutions for real-world challenges through co-creation programs.

MedTech CoE is bringing together pool of 16 mentors and 25 partners from different categories like Academic, Industry, Networking Partners, Investment etc viz. SGPGI, SIIC IIT Kanpur, IIIT Lucknow, IET Lucknow, KIHT, TiELucknow, General Electric; Wipro; Siemens and Philips (India) etc. which will be connected with startups. In this CoE 26 early-stage startups have been selected from nearly 150 applications and further 51 more startups have applied to join the MedTech CoE.